Gaza Journalist Akram al-Satarri: IDF Killed Man in Khan Younis Camp Hours Before Interview, Despite Ceasefire

A 60-year-old man was killed by Israeli forces in the Khan Younis refugee camp a couple of hours before Gaza-based journalist Akram al-Satarri sat down to speak with Democracy Now! on October 7, three years to the day after the Hamas-led attack that killed nearly 1,200 people in Israel.

The day before, al-Satarri said, another Palestinian was shot and killed by a drone strike at a beach camp, with several others wounded. Neither victim was named in the interview, and Occupation Watch has not independently verified the two incidents. Al-Satarri, who returned to journalism after several years working with a humanitarian aid organization in Gaza, described them as part of a pattern that has continued despite a ceasefire that took effect roughly a year ago.

"The Israeli Air Force is still hovering all around different parts of the Gaza Strip, and the IDF is still hunting Gazans, disturbing the already disturbed life, spreading death and displacement once and once again."

Al-Satarri said around 85 percent of Gaza's built environment has been destroyed, and that Israel and the IDF control roughly 70 to 74 percent of the territory's land, figures he gave as his own on-the-ground assessment rather than citing a specific survey or agency.

He put the Palestinian death toll at more than 74,000, the figure maintained by the Gaza Health Ministry, but said he believes the real number is far higher. He estimated that around 8,000 additional bodies have not yet been recovered, and said roughly 8,000 families in Gaza do not know the whereabouts of the remains of missing relatives. He also cited a figure of approximately 250 journalists killed in Gaza since October 2023, consistent with tolls previously reported by press freedom groups, though not independently confirmed in this interview.

A displaced man from Beit Hanoun, Akram Abu Jarad, described conditions in Gaza City in blunter terms to Democracy Now! the same day: residents waiting for water between 5 a.m. and 10 a.m., living in the streets without basic necessities. "We are not living, my friend," he said. "We are dead in Gaza."

The claims in this report rest on al-Satarri's firsthand account as a journalist currently reporting from Gaza City. Specific details on the two recent killings, including the identities of the victims and exact locations beyond the named camps, have not been corroborated by independent reporting, hospital records, or Israeli military statements at time of publication.